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BHPians trip to Thanjavur, Rameswaram & Madurai in Two Mahindra XUV700s

4th November 2024, 10:38 by Kanad Kalasur

After a lot of discussion, back and forth two of us were left. Myself and fellow BHPian @SandeGov. What started off as a discussion to visit Rameswaram then extended to a 4 day trip

BHPian shrk_18 recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

7OOs on the prowl in Tamil Nadu

It all started as a casual discussion among a group of auto enthusiasts majority of whom are M&M owners - Thar, 5OO and 7OO. We had a meet and we decided to go explore Rameswaram some day. Like all group trips this also died down after the initial Euphoria a few months ago. But a few enthu guys, wouldn't let it go and rekindled the plan (still those who kindled the plan didn't make it )
So the planning started for a Dussera trip but eventually got dropped due to holiday and schedule clashes which made sure there was no quorum.

After a lot of discussion, back and forth two of us were left. Myself and fellow BHPian @SandeGov. What started off as a discussion to visit Rameswaram then extended to a 4 day trip covering the following,

  • Thanjavur
  • Rameswaram
  • Madurai

Will cover this travelogue under the following sections,

Planning

As the initial discussion started off with a larger group, we started looking at hotels with more rooms but were finding it hard to accommodate all requirements in a single hotel.

But then, people dropped and only with myself and sandegov, we needed just 2 family rooms to accommodate our families. The search became much simpler and we suddenly had more choices. Our criteria for looking for hotels, in no specific order,

  • Cleanliness
  • Safety
  • Accessbility
  • Decent food in house
  • No botique or luxury hotels - practical and convenient ones
  • A travel desk ( We preferred not to drive in the cities instead take taxi)

With this out of the way, we had to stay 3 nights across 3 cities - Thanjavur , Rameswaram and Madurai. The next decision was the order in which we would cover this. After a lot of discussion, back and forth with folks who had done this before. We decided on the following,

  • Day 1 : Bengaluru - Thanjavur and sightseeing
  • Day 2 : Thanjavur - Rameswaram, temple visit and sightseeing
  • Day 3 : Dhanushkodi. Rameswaram - Madurai and sightseeing
  • Day 4 : Madurai - Bengaluru

Looking at the reviews across various platforms, we zeroed in on the following places for our stay,

Routes

Bengaluru - Thanjavur
Did a lot of research about the route to take as there were two choices - the usual route via Namakkal - Musiri and other one was turning off from Salem on NH79 and reach THanjavur via Prembalur. Eventually we ended up taking the Namakkal Musiri route - https://maps.app.goo.gl/tjBcHhKptePUoCXy6 . This was much faster than the other one.

After crossing the Attibele toll, we took the NH 844 towards Dharmapuri bypass since we wanted to bypass the Krishnagiri traffic and also avoid the new road humps there which many told were causing a lot of rear ending accidents. The NH 844 is still not complete in a lot of stretches. One has to keep going on and off WIP sections of the road. One pain point is crossing Rayakottai town. Since we left by 6:30 AM, we were in Rayakottai before 8 AM or so and had no trouble but can imagine driving through those narrow lanes at other times. But once past Rayakottai till Dharmapuri bypass, its a cake walk and then you join NH44 a few kilometers before Thoppur. We stopped for breakfast at Sai Sangeet (there is an IOCL COCO in the same complex) just before the Thoppur descent. After a quick breakfast, we were on our way. Thoppur descent was uneventful and we were now in the crosshairs of the construction in the Salem "bypass". It was painful crossing Salem (more painful than I thought it would be). Then we were soon crossing Namakkal (much better than corssing Salem) and onwards towards Musiri. Its a beautiful road from there till Musiri with the road works completed. There was some miscellaneous traffic near Musiri and soon we were crossing Srirangm. We could see the massive Gopuram of the RanganathaSwamy temple as we crossed Cauvery over two massive bridges before turning off towards Thanjavur. The exit trowards Thanjavur was littered with a lot of city traffic and looked like Trichy would never end but then after crossing BHEL and NIT, Trichy it was again a beautiful stretch till Thanjavur. We reached by around 1:45 PM and rested after a quick lunch

Thanjavur - Rameswaram

We just took the normal route - https://maps.app.goo.gl/arPu5KpNpF7FHaNf8 it was a straight forward drive. You have to give it to the TN road works department. Beautiful state highways on this stretch. When we stopped to pick up some cashews to much on the road side, SandeGov also said the same and added that they are perfectly banked too !!!

We were in Rameswaram by 2 PM with a 9:30 AM start and stopping at Pamban Bridge for the usual pictures.

Rameswaram - Madurai

Again a straightforward drive - https://maps.app.goo.gl/A5vwMbeLG8KfmFat7. There was some on and off traffic till Ramanathapuram. Once we crossed Ramanathapuram bypass, it was like a beautiful runway with sparse traffic till we hit outskirts of Madurai

We left Rameswaram after visiting the lighthouse and Kothandarama Temple near it before heading out. Reached Madurai by 2:30 PM with a 11:30 AM start from Kothandarama temple.

Madurai - Bengaluru

Again a straightforward dash home on NH44 and NH844. The lunch break again was in Sai Sangeet, this time after the Thoppur ascent. Ascent was slightly painful with slow moving trucks hogging all lanes at some places where you had to patiently wait for one truck moving at 21 kmph overtaking a truck moving at 20 kmph

We left Madurai at 10 AM and were at Attibele Toll by 5:30 PM where SandeGov and I wished good bye and went our own way home

Fuel Pit stops

Since I am bit detail oriented, I try to pick potential refuelling stops while on a road trip. One is because of the quality of fuel, the other is because of bio break opportunities when travelling with family. So with that in mind, starting with a full tank from Bangalore, we would need about 2 refills before we are back in Bangalore. So I found 2 Shell pumps

1) Pudukottai (enroute Rameswaram) - https://maps.app.goo.gl/RMtmxfDYW6zECxB59 . The restrooms here were bad . Diesel here was Rs.94/litre
2) Madurai outskirts - https://maps.app.goo.gl/RkT7H9JThiXvHW6j9. Didn't use the restroom here. Diesel here was Rs.98 /litre

Thanjavur

First we visited the museum and palace. I will let pictures do the talking


After this we went to the Brihadeeshwara Temple. We timed our visit to be there for sunset. Its a photographers paradise at dusk, my skills and phone camera can't do justice to the views that place provides at sunset



Continue reading BHPian shrk_18's post for more insights and information.

 
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